Police in France searched Volkswagen offices on Friday, confiscating computer material as part of an investigation into the carmaker's emissions-cheating scandal, the Paris Prosecutor's office has confirmed.

Two separate searches were conducted at Volkswagen's main French headquarters in Villers-Cotterets in the northeast of Paris and VW offices at Roissy near Paris' main airport, with computer data being seized during the operation.

A Volkswagen spokesman confirmed the company had been searched by French police on Friday and was cooperating with the authorities.

Total recall: Of the 8.5 million affected Volkswagen Group cars being recalled across Europe, 1.2 million are UK owned

The Paris Prosecutor is conducting a preliminary inquiry into suspected 'aggravated deception' by Volkswagen after the German group said 946,092 vehicles in France were equipped with the EA 189 engines fitted with emissions-cheating software.

A day before the office raids took place, Volkswagen confirmed 8.5 million vehicles were to be recalled in Europe on the instruction from German authorities, with 1.2 million affected cars being called back in the UK.

The recall, one of the biggest in European history, was made mandatory by authorities due to its large scale, Germany's transport minister Alexander Dobrindt said.

Volkswagen is facing a £30 billion lawsuit over its diesel emissions scandal after it emerged on Sunday that top law firm Quinn Emanuel has been hired by claim funding group Bentham to prepare a case for VW shareholders.

And owners of affected cars in the UK could also receive compensation, according to Bozena Michalowska, a partner at law firm Leigh Day, who has already been contacted by 4,500 VW owners.

She estimated that owners of affected cars could be due an average of £2,000 compensation each.

Counting the cost: A reported €25 billion has been wiped from the value of the brand since the emissions scandal broke in September

Research by Which? said nine in 10 owners of potentially affected vehicles thought they should receive compensation from the car manufacturer, and more than half wouldn't buy a VW again following the scandal.

New VW chief executive Matthias Mueller said recalls were likely to ‘stretch through the 2016 calendar year’, with vehicles being called back to have issues rectified from the first quarter of the new year.

VW has previously said that around 11 million cars with the software were sold worldwide.